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Or maybe put another way: it was an era where gaming wasn't as popular as it could be, as it is today, because of a lack of constant content drips.

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Or to put it another way: it was an era where the people in charge of producing games cared more about making the experience of playing the game fun and less about diluting the game in favor of squeezing out the maximum amount of profit via dark patterns and psychologically-manipulative Skinner boxes.

What seems sinister or manipulative to you about Skinner boxes? Do you feel the same aversion to training dogs using treats or praise?

Do you feel any aversion to locking people in your house, feeding them only on your schedule, and deciding when they can go to the bathroom?

I must conclude that this is satire, unless you truly see nothing sinister in the notion of sociopathic corporations training humans for drooling obedience in the same way that humans train dogs.

Nah. You are hard with dogs.

At least we train dogs because it’s necessary if you want them to live in harmony within your human family.

Sociopathic corporations treats humans like cattle with moneybags.

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